Cheshvan 6, 5786; from sunset October 27, 2025, to sunset October 28, 2025
(The sixth day of the eighth month)
This is the name “Mosheh” (מֺשֶׁה – Moses) as seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls, written over two thousand years ago.
Yesterday we caught up with the Israelites as they started to pull together the talent and materials needed to construct the tent of meeting. We met Betzalel and studied the meaning of his name and also that of his father Uri. Today, we’ll get to know a little about his companion, Oholiav, whom God has also filled with a spirit of wisdom and understanding.
And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.
“And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver– those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
“And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.”
Then Moses called Betzalel and Oholiav, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.
Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do.”
So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done– indeed too much. – Exodus 35:30-36:1-7
Oholiav
Oholiav is often transliterated as Oholiab or even Aholiab. The picture above gives us a big hint as to what his name means.
Oholiav is a three-part name, just like Betzalel which we studied yesterday.
אהל – The verb-root “ahal” means “to pitch a tent.” The word “ohel” (אׄהֶל) comes out of this root. Ohel means tent.
י – The letter “yod” in a proper noun may be used to indicate a few things.
- It can indicate a first-person possessive form which, in English, would be translated as “my” – giving us “my tent” –or–
- It may indicate the construct form of the word. The construct form “constructs” a relationship between one word and the next. Many times, the construct form is translated into English as the word “of” – giving us “tent of” –or–
- In proper nouns, sometimes the letter “yod” is a hint of God’s Holy Name (which begins with “yod”). This would be translated as “the LORD” – giving us “the LORD’s tent”
אב – The “av” sound at the end of our name is the Hebrew word for “father.”
Oholiav = “Tent of My Father” or “Father’s Tent”
Ahisamach
אֲחִיסָמָךְ
Oholiav was the son of “Achisamach.” By now you’ve probably figured out that “Achisamach” has a meaning all its own. Let’s pull apart this name and see what we find.
אח – The word “ach” (pronounced like “ahkh”) means “brother.”
י – We’ve already studied the letter “yod” when we looked at the meaning of Oholiav’s name.
סמח – The word “samach” (pronounced like “sah-makh”) comes from a verb which means “to support.”
Achisamach = “Brother of Support” or “My Brother Supports”
It seems appropriate that Oholiav, son of Achisamach, should be chosen to support the work of our Father’s tent!
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